A Girl's Armour
by allANN
Summary: Ashton is a 15-year-old girl who, after her parents died, was adopted by Aaron Hotchner. Ashton hates her emotions, and does her best to not feel them. JJ and Emily, though, periodically make the girl take about how she's feeling. How will Ashton react when a boy comes into her life, and forces her to feel emotions for him?
1. Chapter 1

**The 15-year-old girl opened the office door. "My uncle says be in his office in 30 minutes, Jayje."**

**"Okay, thanks Ash. What about Emily?" She asked looking at the raven-haired profiler, who was working in Agent Jennifer Jareau's office. **

**"He just said you," the girl said. "Why are you even in here, Em?" The last statement came out harshly. It was intended to. The girl was having a confusing day, and her way of dealing with her emotions was shutting them away. Normally, she was successful, and succeeded in only talking about her feelings when forced to by the two ladies in front of her. Today, however, instead of show any type of vulnerability, her emotion came out as anger.**

**Her mom and dad had died three years ago, in a car crash, and Aaron Hotchner, her uncle, took full custody of her and her 17-year-old sister. Her older sister, Cameron, who goes by Cammie, was the polar opposite of Ashton. Cammie was outgoing, boy-crazy, and girlie. Ashton was not. She didn't like boys, she was very careful whom she opened up to, and she immersed herself in sports to subdue her emotions. Cameron was as close to the team as Ashton, but they were close in different ways. Cammie had playful relationships with all of them, and none of them worried about her often. Ashton's relationship with the team was different. JJ had become her Pseudo-mother, with Emily, Penelope, and Derek acting as her siblings. Spencer was her best friend, and Rossi was a space of wisdom that had the answer to nearly any question. Hotch was her father figure. **

**Ashton walked out of the office without letting Emily answer, and went to go make herself some coffee. She hadn't slept the night before because she had been kept up all might by her treacherous mind. **

**She couldn't stop thinking about that boy. She set the coffee on to brew, and began to walk back to JJ's office to apologize to Emily for the rude remark. She regretted saying it, despite the fact that it had made her feel better. She knocked on the door and opened it. "Em, I'm sorry for being rude before. I didn't mean anything by it."**

**"I know Ash. Don't worry about it. Rough day?" Ashton took in the concerned look in the eyes of Emily, and JJ's knowing look, boring into her. **

**"Uh.I have coffee brewing. I should go get it," she said quickly, before the agents forced her to sit down and talk to them. She walked back into the break room, got her coffee, then walked to her corner in the bullpen, and finished her math homework. She thought she was home free, and JJ wasn't going to come looking for her and insist she tell her and Emily what was bothering her. **

**Emily looked up at JJ, "What's up with her?" The brunette asked. **

**"If I'm not mistaken, I think she met a boy," JJ smiled, leaning back in her chair. **

**"But wouldn't that make her happier?" Emily vetoed. **

**"No, think about it. Our Ash hates emotion more than you do. I'll bet she's been trying to convince herself for days that she doesn't have feelings for this kid. I mean I think it's her first crush too." **

**"Huh," Emily looked thoughtfully at the blonde, "That sounds plausible. Why don't you go see what Hotch wants then try and get her in here nonchalantly. We can force her to talk to us."**

**"Good idea," JJ said as she stood up. After talking to Hotch about the paperwork the team needed to finish by the end of the week, JJ began to search for Ashton. She spotted the girl in her normal place, doing her math homework. Ashton always did math to get her mind off stuff. "Hey Ash?" JJ called, "Can you come give me your dinner order? We're all eating here." **

**"Coming in a sec," the 15 year old replied, beginning to put away her homework. **

**A couple of minutes later, Ashton's bright green eyes peeked into JJ's office. Emily was still sitting at the blonde's desk. **

**"Your eyes look like Sergio's when you do that," Emily said beckoning her in. "We're ordering from the new Indian place across the street. Come look at the menu."**

**Ashton walked in and sat down across from JJ looking for the menu. Emily quickly stood up and blocked the door. Ashton jumped up and attempted to push by Emily when she realized what was going on. **

**"Come on, guys. Please, I really don't want to do this right now," she pleaded as Emily led her back to the chair and sat her down. **

**"Can I have your word that you won't run, so Em can come sit next to me?"**

**Ashton stared at the floor, "Fine," she growled. **

**"What's going on, Ash?" JJ asked gently. **

**"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ashton replied aggressively, still staring at the floor. **

**"Ash, you know enough about profiling to know that refusing to make eye contact is one of the main signs of lying," JJ sighed. **

**"Nothing is up," Ashton answered, louder this time, staring JJ straight in the eyes. "Okay?! Can I go now please?" She asked rudely, then she stared back at the floor, "Please?" She pleaded, softer this time. It was barely above a whisper. **

**"Ash...Ash, look at me. Ash," JJ reached across the space between them, and put her fingers beneath the girls chin. She pushed her head up, forcing the 15 year old to meet her eyes. "Is it a boy?" JJ asked softly. **

**"I fucking hate living with profilers," Ashton muttered. **

**"Join the club, hon," Emily said back. **

**"So it's a boy?" JJ asked definitively. After almost a minute of silence, JJ spoke again, "Ash...the faster you answer me, the faster this can be over."**

**Ashton slowly looked up, nodding her head. "What's his name?" Emily asked, cajoling the defeated girl into telling her. **

**"Brendan," she whispered. "His name's Brendan," she said louder, staring into JJ's eyes fiercely, attempting to overrule the scared feeling that was creeping up her chest as she thought about him. **

**"Ash, honey, there's nothing wrong with having a crush on someone," JJ spoke gently, trying not to spook the vulnerable girl sitting in front of her. **

**"It's not a crush," Ashton replied vehemently, a blush making its way up her cheeks. **

**Emily chuckled softly, "It sure seems as though it is." The brunette looked at the scared girl in front of her. "Ash, I know how you feel, and don't say I don't," Emily said cutting the girl off before she could protest, "I hate emotion as much as you do, but you have to deal with it. Especially when he likes you back," Emily ended with an evil smile. The profiler had been reading Ashton's body language, and it became clear to her that Ashton didn't know how to act around this kid, and really wanted him to like her.**

**Ashton flipped the brunette off, got up, and started walking towards the door. **

**"Ash," JJ said patiently, "You know if we don't finish this now, you'll have to come back later."**

**The 5'9" girl turned around and resignedly sat back down. "What else is there to say?"**

**"Well, you have to allow yourself to like this kid, or else you aren't going to sleep for the next three weeks. Yes, I know you didn't sleep last night," JJ said in response to Ashton's surprised look. **

**"The coffee," Ashton said softly. **

**"Yes, the coffee. So, tell us about him. What does he look like?"**

**The dirty-blonde girl, turned an even deeper red than before. "Come on, Jayje, don't make me do this," she whispered. **

**Emily and JJ just stared at her, silent. "Fine. He's got light brown hair, and his eyes are moss coloured."**

**"And.?" Emily pressed for more details, smiling widely at the innocent girl sitting in front of her. **

**"Uhh...well, he's about an inch taller than me..." She trailed off. **

**"Perfect kissing height," JJ interjected. **

**Ashton looked at the older, more experienced women, horrified. "I'm sorry, what?!"**

**"I believe she said, 'perfect kissing height' m'dear. Don't look at me like that. You of all people should know that's the first thing that would come to JJ's mind."**

**"Em!" JJ punched her softly. **

**"Wait, guys, if I...well if I..uh..like this boy. Does that mean I have to have physical contact with him?" Ashton looked quickly from one lady to the other. Both were laughing, as the girl's aversion to physical contact was notorious amongst the whole unit. **

**"Yeah, it may mean that," JJ said evilly, "Come on, don't tell me you haven't thought about kissing him." JJ looked at her incredulously. **

**"Spence said to me the other day, that kissing releases a chemical in your brain that is the same chemical that's released if you eat chocolate, so if I were to just eat some chocolate, I'd have the same feeling that I'd get if-"**

**Ashton was cut off by Emily speaking, "If I didn't know you as well as I do, I would write that off as you saying you'd rather just eat chocolate. But I do know you well, so I know that you, like me, ramble when you get nervous. Which means you HAVE thought about it," she smirked slightly at the girl, then smiled. "Hey, what's Brendan's last name?"**

**"You really think I'm that stupid? I know Garcia will find him within 7 minutes of you telling her, but I will not make those 7 minutes 30 seconds by telling you his last name." A comfortable silence ensued after Emily made a disappointed sound. **

**"Hey guys,"Ashton asked nervously. **

**"Yeah?"JJ locked eyes, with her, a satisfied smile spread across the blonde's face. The women was glad Ashton had opened up to them. The girl looked more relaxed, just sitting there. Then Ashton stared at the ground, suddenly uncomfortable. "Ash, hon?" JJ said softly to the jittery kid sitting in front of her. JJ pulled her knees onto her chair, and up to her chest, waiting for Ashton to continue. **

**"Umm...what does it feel like to kiss someone?" Ashton finished her question, blushing. **

**She looked at Emily, who was smiling at her. "What?" The girl asked, afraid she had overstepped. **

**"It's just funny that when you let us in through your armour, you look so much more relaxed. So why don't you do it more often? Also, I never thought you'd ever ask that question, even though I know it's been on your mind since you first talked to us today."**

**"Well, now that I've asked it, could you please answer it?"**

**"It's better than chocolate, I can tell you that much," JJ answered. **

**"But Spence said more dopamine is released when you eat chocolate than when you-"**

**"Ash?" Emily waited until Ashton was looking at her. "It's better than chocolate." **

**"Okay," Ashton replied in a small voice. "I've never kissed anyone before, and if he kisses me...is he going to be able to tell?"**

**"Well, first you're assuming it gets to that level. And second, probably, but don't worry about it. The boy I had my first kiss with was a year older than me, and he said my lack of experience was adorable," JJ replied to the now blushing girl. **

**"How old were you, Jayje? Seven?"**

**"Shut up!" JJ yelled as the phone rang. "Food's here," JJ answered the looks the two females were giving her. **

**"I never ordered, though," Ashton observed. **

**"Don't worry, we weren't actually having Indian, we got pizza. Yes, I got you your own," JJ responded to the hopeful look the golden haired teen was giving her. JJ had no idea how Ashton managed to eat that much, and stay as skinny as a door nail, but she never failed to finish her pizza. She ate more than Derek these days.**

**JJ walked towards the elevator to get the pizza. She was thinking about the team. How long would Ash be able to hide her crush from some of the worlds best profilers, she wondered. And after seeing how embarrassed Ashton had been in front of just her and Emily today, she wondered how Ashton would react in front of the entire team...**

**She absentmindedly paid the man for the 4 pizzas, and only after a few seconds of silence and the man not taking her money did she look up. She realized she was holding out a 5-dollar bill instead of the 30 dollars she had meant to give him. "I'm sorry, sir. One second," she said awkwardly. **

**"I would let anyone with your face pay with just five dollars if I didn't have to give the earnings back to my boss," the pizza guy replied flirtatiously. **

**JJ smiled at him, and handed out the actual payment, "Here you go, sir." Then she handed out another ten dollar bill, as a tip to make up for the mistake. **

**"No, ma'am, I can't take that much. Besides it looks much better in your hands than it does mine."**

**JJ laughed and took the man's hand, wrapping his fingers around the bill, before smiling. She pushed her hair behind her ear slowly, then turned around and walked back inside. JJ didn't realize the girl beside her until trying to balance the pizza boxes on one hand to press the elevator, but saw it was already pressed. JJ looked up, and noticed Ashton beside her, with a wistful look on the girl's face. **

**"What is it Ash? Why're you looking at me like that?" JJ was genuinely confused. **

**"Just thinking..."**

**"Ash," JJ began threateningly. **

**"Fine, fine. I was just...just...um...I...maybe," she looked into the older women's patient and open face. "I was wondering how you flirt with people so easily. You barely even spoke to that guy, and he was falling for you," Ashton said quickly, and all in one breath. **

**JJ smiled at the girl. She knew how much it had taken for the 15 year old to ask that question. "It's just experience," she replied, not remembering a time when she hadn't been good at flirting. **

**"Oh," Ashton said quietly. They rode the rest of the way in silence. JJ worrying about Ashton alone with so many emotions breaking loose inside her. The girl ha never asked her a question so personal willingly. **

**JJ and Ashton walked into the bullpen. "Pizza!" JJ yelled, and everyone stopped what they were doing, and hurried to the conference room. **

**The team sat down, and JJ began handing out food, Penelope handed out napkins, and Rossi tossed water bottles to everyone. JJ opened the lid of one box, looked in, and said, "Pepperoni, bell peppers. Em, Morgan," she slid the pizza across the table to the two friends. "Cheese, Pen, Hotch, Rossi," she slid that one to the three. "Anchovies," she muttered, pulling the pizza over to her and Reid. "Annnnd sausage. Here you go, Ash."**

**The room was filled with the sound of eating for a couple minutes, then JJ broke the silence, "So Spence, how was your lunch date?" She asked smiling. **

**"Date? I didn't have a date..I..we're..she," he stopped frustrated. **

**"It's what you wore today, Reid," Derek spoke. "You combed and gelled your hair, wore a silk vest, and nice shoes. Not converse. We all knew you had a date the second you walked in today. So Pretty Boy, who was the lucky lady or man?"**

**"She's in counterterrorism," Reid said focusing intently on his pizza. "I don't know how the date went, but we're having lunch again next week." He looked up at Emily questioningly, "That's good right?"**

**"Yeah, that's good, Romeo," Emily said trying to contain her laughter. She could see why Ash and Spence were so close. **


	2. Chapter 2

**"What's her name, Reid?" JJ said teasingly. **

**"Her..she...we...I..she doesn't..uh...have a name." Reid realized how stupid that sounded the second it left his mouth. **

**"I can tap the video feed if I need too, boy-who-rocks-sweater-vests, or you could just tell us her name..." Garcia threatened. **

**"Uh, okay, fine I lied," Reid said quietly. **

**"What about?" Emily asked. **

**"Her name's Lila, she's..." he trailed off as JJ choked on her water, and Morgan spat out his pizza. **

**"She just kind of called me, and I didn't know what to do. So I agreed to lunch."**

**"Doesn't she live in LA?" Hotch sounded very confused. **

**"Yeah, well she's in town..." Reid mumbled. **

**"She just happened to be in Quantico, Doc? No one just comes to Quantico, kid," Morgan smiled at Reid and wiggled his eyebrows. **

**"Look! Guys, I am just as confused as you are. Actually, I'm probably more confused, considering my lack of multi-gender interaction, except for JJ, Emily, and Garcia!" Reid almost shouted this last statement. **

**"Spence, no one was trying to hurt you. We're just teasing you," Emily put her hand on his arm. **

**"I know, I'm just really confused."**

**"What'd she do on the date?" Ashton spoke for the first time the entire meal. Everyone turned to stare at her. "What? It's the only thing that makes sense. Reid knows she had feelings for him at one point, so he wouldn't be confused about why she came to Quantico because he had to plan the lunch in advance, and make sure he wasn't on a case. And he definitely would not get that mad at you guys if something wasn't bothering him. Look at his hair! He's been running his hands through it all day because of his worrying. But it was fine when I left for school this morning, so something obviously happened at lunch." JJ's mouth was open, and Rossi was smiling slightly. Hotch looked proud, and Emily and Penelope just stated at each other. **

**Morgan finally spoke, "We just lost at our own game." Reid tried to get up to go to the bathroom, with his bag. But right when he started to open the door quietly, JJ turned around and grabbed his arm. **

**"You, sir, are going to sit right back down, and tell us clueless profilers, one beautiful technical analyst, and a kid what happened at lunch today."**

**"I'll get you back, Ash," he muttered under his breath. Emily heard, and guessed that Ashton was thinking about Brendan, when she turned bright red in response to Spencer's comment. **

**"Ash, are you okay?" Penelope asked, worriedly. **

**"Fine, thanks." But her bright red hue didn't go unnoticed by Morgan and JJ. Morgan made eye contact with the blonde women, and she shook her head, silently warning him not to probe. **

**"What happened, boy wonder?" Garcia asked, persistently. **

**"She, well, we haven't seen each other in 2 years. And when she saw me outside the restaurant, she walked up, and she just, she, well, she...uh..." he stopped. **

**"She kissed you?" JJ asked with a small smile on her lips.**

**He nodded, "She didn't even say hi first. What does that mean?" He asked the question to the whole room, hoping someone could relieve his confusion. **

**"It means she likes you a lot Reid. And has been thinking about that kiss for a long while," Rossi displaced his wisdom on the room. JJ noticed Ashton listening intently, and reminded herself to talk to the girl later. Clearly, Ashton hadn't been satisfied by her answer that flirting is just experience. **

**"Were you lying when you said you were getting lunch next week?" Emily asked.**

**Reid shook his head. "How'd lunch go?" Ashton asked curiously. To everyone except Emily and JJ it came off as an innocent question, but both ladies realized the girl was desperately trying to figure out what to do with the emotions she was so unaccustomed to. **

**As Reid started to describe his date, Emily nudged JJ. "You need to talk to her later. She's scared, lost, and too afraid to ask us for help," Emily whispered. JJ nodded slightly, ad Emily returned to listening to Reid. He was talking about the excellent conversations they had shared the whole lunch. **

**"Sounds like you're going to miss her when she leaves," Derek stated. **

**"Yeah, I think I am," Reid said thoughtfully. "But I'm okay with that for know. Thanks guys." he was referring to the help they had given him on deciphering Lila's behavior during the date. Everyone just nodded, and the silence resumed. **

**"Can I have that piece, Morgan?" Ashton asked. **

**"Ash, sporting prodigy, you just ate a whole pizza." Garcia replied for Morgan. **

**"Yeah," she said to Garcia, as if the women were stupid, "and I'd like that last piece of Morgan's."**

**Everyone laughed at Garcia's offended face, and Morgan slide the piece across the table to the waiting girl. **


	3. Chapter 3

After Ashton had devoured her last piece of pizza, everyone got up to finish their work. JJ walked back to her office, thinking about how Ashton almost had to reveal her predicament tonight, and was saved only by the fact that JJ told Morgan not to dig deeper. How long could she keep this up? It also didn't slip her mind that she still needed to talk to Ashton. The girl was floundering, and JJ wanted to help her and ensure that the girl felt comfortable discussing these topics with herself and Emily in the future.

"JJ," Hotch called.

"What's up?" The blonde replied, being pulled out of her thoughts.

"Can Ashton stay with you tonight? I'm going to be here late, and she needs to sleep."

JJ nodded and opened the door to her office. She decided she would talk to the fifteen year-old at her house. JJ's house was closer to the BAU, and closer to Ashton's high school than Hotch's small house in the outskirts of DC. On late nights at the FBI offices, such as this one, Ashton often stayed with JJ, so that she could get an adequate amount of sleep before school the next day. After getting agreement from JJ, Hotch went to find his niece. She was, as usual, sitting in her corner with her laptop opened in front of her.

"Ash," Hotch said, beckoning for her to come to his office located above the chaos of the bullpen. The girl closed her laptop, walked up the stairs, and knocked on the door. JJ came out of her office at the same time to get Hotch's signature on some papers. Ashton went in, and left the door open for JJ to follow.

"You beckoned?" The girl asked, slightly sarcastically.

"Yeah, are you okay with staying at JJ's tonight?" Hotch asked her, expecting a yes.

"No!" The girl blurted without thinking. The two adults turned to stare at the unusually loud and negative response from the girl. Ashton slowly turned red, and desperately tried to come up with an excuse for her outburst. The truth was she knew that JJ knew she was still very lost, confused, and scared about Brendan. And she also knew the women would make her talk about her feelings. That was the last thing she wanted to do, "I...left my English book at the house, and I need it tomorrow." She said quietly. She had left her book, but she didn't need it for the next day.

"Oh, I saw that, and I brought in case you needed it," Hotch said, smiling, "So you're good for staying with JJ?"

"Okay," Ashton mumbled, trying not to make eye contact with JJ.

"Can you go get your stuff than Ash? Cause I'm leaving after Hotch signs these," JJ hinted at Hotch to sign the papers that had been sitting in front of him for a full five minutes, untouched. The man jolted into attention, and quickly signed them, as Ashton left the office glumly.

"Is she okay?" Hotch asked, knowing JJ an Emily were the only people the girl talked to.

"She will be," JJ replied, confidently.

Ashton walked out of the office, turning to go down the stairs without looking up, and nearly pushed Emily down them.

"Whoa!" The brunette said, stumbling. Then she looked at Ashton, and frowned, "What's the matter?" She asked sternly.

"Nothing," Ashton grumbled, pushing past her.

"Ashton," Emily said warningly. She grabbed the 15 year old's wrist as she tried to walk away.

"Fuck off!" The girl yelled, yanking her wrist away.

Emily just stood there shocked, as JJ, who walking out of the office had witnessed the entire scene, laid a hand on the brunette's shoulder. "Did I do something?" Emily asked softly.

"No, she's pissed because she has to stay with me tonight, and she doesn't want to talk about anything. To be honest, knowing her normal self, and knowing how depression comes about, she needs to talk," JJ said.

"I agree. Do you want me to come over? I know how she feels." Before meeting the team, Emily had comparmentalized every emotion she felt, trying to never think about any of them. She had been clinically depressed for almost 4 years before joining the Bureau, and it was not something she would want anyone to feel, especially not Ashton.

"I'll call you if I need you," JJ decided. Emily lived about 10 minutes away from her, so transportation wouldn't be an issue. Emily nodded, then walked up the stairs and knocked on Rossi's door. JJ collected her stuff from her office, then went down to the elevators, where Ashton was already standing. JJ decided to let the girl stay silent for the time being, and pressed the elevator button. They rode down the elevator, got into JJ's car, and drove home.


	4. Chapter 4

They pulled into the parking garage of JJ's apartment complex. They got out, and walked up the stairs in silence. JJ unlocked the door, and Ashton tried to slip up to the guest bedroom, but was stopped by JJ's yell from the kitchen, "Ash, I really don't want to walk upstairs."

Ashton walked slowly down the stairs, into the kitchen. "What?" She asked unemotionally.

"Sit," JJ commanded. Ashton sat. "We need to talk."

"About what?" Ashton smiled, trying to put on an innocent front.

"Don't give me that."

The two stared each other down until the girl finally broke eye contact, and looked at the ground. "Fine. What do you want me to tell you?"

"I want you to be honest with me, and with yourself," she said placing emphasis on the and.

"I already have been."

"Ashton, you and I both know what I do for a living. Now, let's rethink that's statement," she gave Ashton a look that went right through her armour.

"God, Jayje! I don't fucking know what you want me to say!"

"You can start by telling me what emotions you're refusing to feel."

"If I knew, do you think I'd be like this?"

"Exactly my point. You need to let me help you, Ash."

"I don't need help, Jennifer," Ashton stood up quickly, trying to get up to the guest room and lock the door, but JJ was faster. And JJ wasn't crying, so she didn't slip on the stairs.

Ashton couldn't see because her eyes were starting to fog up. She angrily wiped the tears away, and slipped on the steps. She fell backwards, were JJ caught her. Ashton tried to scramble out of her arms, but JJ wouldn't let go. Eventually, the girl stopped struggling, and let JJ lead her back to the kitchen.

JJ reached up and wiped the tears off Ashton's face. "It's okay to cry, Ash."

Ashton hadn't cried since her mom died, three years ago, and JJ knew that. "It's okay, come here, shhh," JJ pulled the girl into a hug, and the tears slowly stopped.

As Ashton raised her face from the crook in JJ's shoulder, she impatiently wiped the tears away, and started turning red. "I'm sorry, that was ridiculous, and people have way worse situa-" she rambled embarrased and ashamed, until JJ cut her off.

"It's okay to be vulnerable every now and again, Ash. It doesn't mean you're any less of a strong person, and none of us with think any less of you." Ashton tried to talk, but JJ continued, making the girl stop and listen a little bit more, "Stop it. Crying is allowed. Okay?" She waited until Ashton nodded, before speaking again. "I'm going to call Em, and she can get ice cream for us. Okay?"

Ashton nodded once more, and started to inch toward the door. "Where do you think you're going, young lady?" JJ asked sternly.

"I'm just going to shower, then I'll-" JJ cut her off, yet again.

"No, you're going to sit right back down in that chair. Just because you cried doesn't mean you don't have to talk to me."

Ashton sat back down, with a sigh. She watched JJ call Emily, and then the smoke alarm went off.

"Shit! The bread!" JJ yelled, dropping the phone and running to the oven. Emily was yelling to JJ on the phone, panicked as to what the sound was, so Ashton reached down and grabbed it.

"Em? It's Ashton. JJ just burnt some bread," she stopped to listen to Emily. "Yes, we're fine, yes we still want you to come over, yes, of course we want you to still bring ice cream. Okay see you soon." Ashton hung up the phone, and turned to see JJ fanning the alarm with a dishcloth. Then it stopped, and it was quiet again. JJ turned to face Ashton again.

"Do you want to start talking? Or should we wait for Em?" JJ asked, gently.

Ashton, desperate for any delay in the inevitable conversation responded, "Let's wait."

JJ smiled, "Why did I even ask?"


	5. Chapter 5

Ten minutes later, a knock sounded from the door. JJ and Ashton both looked up. JJ didn't move to answer it, expecting Ashton to get it because we was clearly busy cooking her lunch for the next day. A minute later, someone knocked again.

"Are you going to get it, Ash?"

"She has a key," Ashton responded, a little rudely.

Just then, they heard a muffled yell through the door, "I forgot my key! Can you open it please, Ash?!"

The girl sullenly stood up, slowly walked to the door, and opened it. Emily walked into the kitchen, followed by Ashton, who quickly helped herself to the ice cream Emily had set on the counter. Emily greeted JJ with a one-armed hug (she didn't hug Ashton because she knew she didn't like physical contact), then sat down. "Alright Ash, no more excuses," JJ said turning to glance at the girl, who was busy going through JJ's cupboards, trying to find an adequate amount of toppings for her ice cream.

"Do you eat anything other than Mandarin oranges, Jayje?! I mean really," Ashton responded, emerging from the pantry.

"Ash, as talented as you are at rerouting conversations and distracting people. It's our profession to not let that happen, so, although I too am weirded out by Jayje's obsession with Mandarin oranges, we are talking about you right now. Not her," Emily said pulling out a counter chair for Ashton, and patting the seat for the girl to sit.

"Fine. The only problem is, I don't really know what I'm feeling, so I don't know how to talk to you guys."

"Why don't we ask you questions, and you respond. HONESTLY. Okay?" JJ put emphasis on the word honestly, because of Ashton's talent at lying. The girl had studied body language for years, and was now able to manipulate hers to fool almost anyone. It worked on JJ and Emily sometimes, but not when something was this wrong.

Ashton nodded, then sat waiting for the two women to ask.

Emily started, "Why aren't you accepting you have a crush on Brendan?"

Ashton instantly started turning red when his name was mentioned, "Due to our earlier conversation, I have accepted it."

"But why were you so reluctant to accept it?" Emily persisted.

"I don't know. Cause...I don't know."

"Ash, you have to talk," JJ insisted.

"But I don't kno-," she stopped at Emily's look. "Fine. Because then he an hurt me, and I can loose him," she finished, looking at her feet.

"Then why'd you let the team underneath your emotional armour?" JJ asked, genuinely curious.

"You guys didn't really give me a choice."

"I know how that feels," Emily chuckled. "Alright, next question. Why do you never go out? You never go to parties or dances, you don't even have friends over."

"That's an easy answer. Because I don't have any friends," at JJ's look of pity, she continued. "I don't want pity. I don't want friends. You guys, and Spence are fine."

"But Ash, you need friends your own age. It's healthy," JJ insisted.

"Not really. Most kids my age just talk about boys and do drugs."

Emily pushed the topic, "Ash, when I was your age, even I wanted friends."

"Well, Emily, it's a good thing we're different people then."

"Alright, point taken. You have us. That's the only reason I'm letting this slide," Emily said. She wanted to make it clear that she was only letting this question slip because there was a partial answer.

JJ, smiling, asked the next question, "Why do you have a crush on Brendan? We barely know anything about him."

Ashton turned lobster-coloured, "Jayje, I don't want to talk about it."

"Why?"

"Because...cause...I don't know," she relented after receiving waiting looks from both women. "Fine. He's on the boy's soccer team. Happy?!"

"No, I don't know about Em, but I want to know more than that," JJ responded evilly.

"Please, guys. I don't want to talk about it. I want to forget about it."

"It, is a him, first of all. Second of all, you clearly can't forget about it. You look like you haven't slept in a week, and I would assume the time you should have been asleep has been spent thinking about this boy," JJ nodded, agreeing with Emily.

"Okay, but I don't know how to change that."

"Ash, just try talking with us please? And make an effort to be honest, okay?" JJ pleaded. The agent was using an interrogation technique she ha learned in the FBI Academy. She was phrasing the question so that Ashton was the one with the power to decide. JJ was banking on the fact that Ashton hadn't read or studied about that technique yet, though.

The agent was lucky, Ashton responded positively. "Fine. He's kind of popular, and he's the captain of the varsity soccer team. He's a year older than me. But the main reason I like him, is on his team he has a zero tolerance policy for bullying kids, especially LGTBQ kids. He got one kid kicked off the team because the kid wouldn't stop beating up kids in the Gay Straight Alliance Club, and after that kid got kicked off, a gay kid tried out and made varsity. Is that enough for you guys?"

"Wow, Ash. You reveal a sentimental side I didn't know you possessed," JJ said jokingly. "Are you friends with him?"

"Well...uh, I'm not really sure. Not the way Spence and I are friends, but he knows my name, and he may tean an sole my ea a cou ti," Ashton finished, mumbling so much that what she was saying didn't sound like English.

"One more time?" Emily said, knowing whatever Ashton had just mumbled had to be really embarrassing to the girl.


	6. Chapter 6

"He took my cleats at practice once by accident. And then he gave them back."

"Ahh, and did he do it purposefully? In order to talk to you?" JJ questioned further.

"Jayje, my interaction with the male gender extends as far as the team. And that's basically it. My knowledge of flirting, is zero."

"How long did you guys talk for in that instance?" Emily asked. She deducted that for Ashton to bring up the incident, more than just an exchange of cleats must have taken place.

"Well, uh..we talked for a bit."

"Ash..." JJ said warningly, wanting the truth.

"We talked for 20 minutes," Ashton mumbled.

"That sounds a bit longer than just exchanging cleats," JJ knew that in soccer, taking another person's cleats was a common flirting technique. She had even used it several times. "Ash, in soccer, that's textbook flirting," JJ said, amazed the girl didn't know that.

JJ's statement made Ashton's face flush, and the girl looked at the floor, "Well, apparently I missed the day the textbook was handed out," Ashton replied acidly.

JJ sighed, "Ash, I'm really not trying to be mean. I just don't understand how you can study body language, even master it yourself so that your lies are more convincing, and not be able to tell when a boy's flirting with you."

"Aww, cut her some slack Jayje," Emily said, receiving a grateful glance from Ashton. "Her best friend is Reid, after all."

"Alright, fine. But we've established that he was definitely flirting with you, okay?" JJ said looking at Ashton for approval.

"Uh...yeah he just flirted with me," Ashton agreed unconvincingly.

"Ah ah ah," Emily said raising her eyebrows, "why did you use the word "just" in that sentence?"

"Because...I, he...we..I don't know," she said exasperated, "that's just how the sentence came out." She was desperately trying to deter any interest in her word choice, because there was, in fact, a reason she had used that word.

"Ash, buddy," Emily said using her pet name for Ashton. "What'd he do? We're not going to make fun of you. We're just going to help you figure out why he did it."

"What if I don't want to know why?" Ashton said in a small voice.

"Ash, hon, what'd he do? Ash, look at me. Ash," JJ said softly, putting two cool fingers under Ashton's very hot face, and forcing the girl to meet her eyes.

"He kissed me on the cheek," she said finally.

Emily raised her eyebrows at JJ from behind Ashton's back. "He likes you back," Emily said definitively.

"No!" The women were shocked at her adamant statement.

"You asked me how to flirt earlier, why don't you want him to like you?" JJ questioned, confused.

"Because then, then…I don't know," she said, looking scared.

"Ash, he's clearly a sweet kid. He's not going to hurt you," Emily said, brushing some of Ashton's hair behind her ear.

"But then I have to learn the whole thing," She quietly replied.

"What whole 'thing'?" JJ asked, confused.

"The thing, you know, your thing, Jayje. The flirting, girliness, and being nice, AND expressing emotions one doesn't understand, to a stranger!" Ashton finished loudly.


End file.
